The Start of the New Year in Key West!!

Jessica’s Christmas gift to us was three days in Key West. Thank you, Jessica!!! We headed south on January 3^rd and arrived in enough time to check into our hotel, and walk around the heart of the downtown area. It was again a frigid, cloudy, blustery day but we were dressed for it and strolled to the waterfront area of Mallory Square. Similar to the Baltimore Harbor Place it is paved entirely in decorative brick and street performers mark out a territory and draw people in to watch their show. The more they draw in the greater the potential for mucho monetary offerings at its completion.

Welcome sign at Mallory Square.

We were sucked in by the humor of a tall, lanky, raspy voiced unicyclist with a pierced earring in one lobe. One had to wonder if his voice was naturally that way or if it was a result of the days he spent attracting audiences to his act. While calling to the passersby to come close, he was creating a huge semi-circle on the pavement with a fluid from what appeared to be a patio grill lighter fluid bottle. Chris was wondering if it would be lit as a part of his show until he assured the gathering crowd, by putting a flame to it, that it was only water. With audience in place, he humored us while balancing on top of a free-standing ladder and eventually atop his unicycle where he proceeded to catch, with his foot, a bowler style hat he’d pushed off his shaved head as his finale. We tossed him a greenback reward and were immediately sucked into another show, beginning right next to him, featuring dog tricks. This performer wasn’t as entertaining and one poor dog was so cold she was visibly shivering. Jessica had brought Max with her and they were standing quietly amongst the audience, when one of the performer’s dogs began barking at him. Poor Max wasn’t doing anything to provoke her and Jessica was so embarrassed that she pulled him away from the show and wandered over to check out the jewelry at the nearby vendor tables. We think the “bitch” was overcome by Max’s manliness.

Jay holding the street performer’s ladder as he jumps to his unicycle.

Released from the spell of the street performers we wandered around and encountered an older gentleman with one of those musical rigs that have just about every instrument you can think of hanging off of him. You know, the ones that have a big round drum with cymbals on top, a horn with a big, black rubber bulb on the end and a harmonica hanging around his neck, you name it he’s got it kind of musical menagerie. He’d finished his show so we didn’t get to see him in action, but it was the last thing Chris expected to see as she thought the “craft” had died out long ago. It just goes to show you that you should expect the unexpected at Key West.

This guy can play most anything. We just don’t know how many he can play at one time.

With dark closing in we made our way to the town center area to see its offerings and formulated a plan for what we wanted to do the next day. Then we found a nice, warm, cozy Thai restaurant.

We could hardly get that far south and not have a picture taken at the Southernmost Point buoy. Our first stop the next day was exactly that. We couldn’t believe the line of a score of people waiting for their opportunity to “capture the photo”.

Chris, Jessica and Max at the Southernmost point buoy.

Next stop was the Mel Fisher Museum which housed the bounteous treasure from the Atocha, a 17^th century Spanish galleon that sank, during a hurricane, about 50 miles off the coast of Key West. When it sank, on September 6, 1622 it was burgeoning with gold and silver bars, dozens of feet of heavy, gold chain, thousands of silver doubloons and countless gemstones totaling a fortune in excess of $450 million today. These riches had been harvested in Central America and were on their way to the coffers of Philip IV in Spain. Read more about Mel Fisher at this link.

Chris and Jay at the Mel Fisher Museum.

A display of gold chains and an ornate gold necklace recovered from the wreck.

True to form, Jay and Chris took their time and read all the information in the exhibit from the story of the conception of the search, the discovery of the mother lode, information about the artifacts found, which reflect life during that time, to the court case Fisher fought to defend his ownership of the treasure. There is a secure Plexiglas display which allows you to lift a gold bar and experience its texture and heft. It is surprising how dense and heavy it is. The gold, silver and doubloons have been crafted into fine jewelry and are sold in the museum’s gift shop – for a hefty price. Divers continue to retrieve treasure from the site even today. In the museum it was easy to imagine being a part of such an adventure. It is a good feeling to know that even the largest and most far out dreams can be fulfilled.

We’d love to have the value of these beauties in our bank account.

Silver bells – oh no, it’s bars.

A walking tour ate up the rest of our day and we learned about the founding fathers of the Conch Republic, as Key West was once known, the location of the actress Kelly McGillis’ restaurant, and found a unique fixer-upper for a mere $4 million that was nowhere near the waterfront. Walking off the main drag was pleasant as we didn’t have to dodge the unending stream of tourists occupying the downtown district and the icy wind was blocked by the assortment of 18^th and 19^th century homes.

A real cheap fixer-upper.

A true Conch Republican hood ornament.

Route 1 Mile 0. It all starts or ends here.

No visit to Key West is complete without a meal at Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville, where we dined that night. Jessica was surprised and pleased to get carded before being served and the food was quite good. On one wall a large screen continuously played videos of Jimmy in concerts where attendees are still very much into the “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere” mentality. But, of course, that’s how he got so popular.

Jimmy Buffet – the original Parrot Head.

We made one stop on the drive home at the Dolphin Research Center on Grassy Key. This was the home of Flipper in the 1960s and where his grandchildren still reside. A small, covered causeway extends out into the Gulf, about 200’, and is bordered on each side by watery pens that house the dolphins. Floating platforms in the pens allow the researchers, trainers and paying patrons to interact with them on a variety of levels depending on the package for which they paid. You could let one glide under your hands for $25, spend 20 minutes swimming in the water with them for $189 or spend a whole day with a trainer for a mere $650!! All of these opportunities were in addition to the basic entrance fee.

A family copping a feel at the Dolphin Research Center.

Although sunny, this particular day was cold and the wind was blowing at least 15 mph. Standing on the causeway was a brisk experience which necessitated us employing all sweaters, jackets and windbreakers we’d packed. We warmed up a couple of times by attending two different talks in a small, concrete block building where we learned about baby dolphins and general behavior. The rest of our afternoon stay encompassed watching several shows where the beaked whales caught and tossed back rings and balls, stood on their tails and leapt 20’ out of the water. It was surprising how many people braved the frosty temperatures to be in the water with these critters. Granted they had donned full or partial wetsuits and maybe the water was actually warmer than the air, but it is likely they paid for it in goose bumps on their way back to the changing room.

As much as we would have liked to extend our stay in Miami, we were kicked out of the RV Park the following day on January 6^th. We knew it was coming as when we originally made our reservations they had no space available after that date, but we liked the Park and seeing Jessica and would like to have stayed longer - although we certainly wouldn’t miss the Miami traffic.

Friends, Peacocks and Parks

It seems most everywhere we go Jay knows someone he served with in the Coast Guard and south Florida was no exception. We took a couple of days, headed to The Keys and visited with Gary and Jane Nelson whom Jay knew from when he lived on his sailboat in the Virgin Islands. They live in a comfortable home on a canal where Gary keeps his powerboat, for his fishing forays, in the town of Tavernier located just south of Key Largo on Plantation Key. Jane told Chris about lots of places to visit, both in Florida and other parts of the country, one of which was the Miami Zoo. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at a local seafood restaurant, visited with some of their colorful neighbors, one of whom lives in the community across the street that has a grass, aircraft landing strip. The Nelsons recommended we feed the Tarpon fish at Robbie’s Marine and Geological Park, so we headed a little further south and pulled into their parking lot. Unfortunately we were unimpressed with both the food offered at their waterside restaurant and with the fact that we had to pay extra just to walk out on the pier where the Tarpon were fed much less pay for the fish to feed them. So, we said “No thank you” and headed back to the RV Park.

These ladies used their fish to feed the tarpon and the multitude of pelicans that were permanent fixtures on the dock.

On another trip to The Keys we enjoyed spending time with Jay’s friend from St. Thomas, Larry Connor, and his wife Sharon. On the way to their home, we stopped at the gallery of underwater photographer, Stephen Frink. He travels around the globe on assignment for national scuba diving magazines taking photographs for their covers and feature articles. Most of the photos in The Keys Visitor Center magazine were taken by him. Browse bins scattered throughout the gallery contained mounted prints and we were mesmerized by the slide show of his brightly colored images playing on a 42”, wall-mounted TV.

All homes and boats require a certain amount of ongoing maintenance and RVs are no different. We discovered the trees in Savannah not only poked a hole in our roof, but also bent a rod on an awning assembly that covers the kitchen slide. A couple of trips to the RV store for parts and a few hours later we had it repaired. We considered filling the roof cavity with a ship deck prism and the search was on. After Chris scoured the web for one more affordable than $250 and coming up empty, we conned Jessica into driving us to Fort Lauderdale so that we could rummage around the chandleries. We did come across some, but they were either strictly decorative, rectangular and too big, or mounting hardware was not available. The duct tape was holding, so we abandoned the search for the time being.

This resident, RV Park peacock insisted on digging in Chris’ pots of herbs and salad greens.

While in Fort Lauderdale, we dined with Quinn Corbett, a former Virgin Island drinking buddy of Jay’s. Quinn is a cook on a 100’ charter boat that was having the finishing touches completed of adding an additional 12’ to the stern and a complete interior remodeling. He showed us how his brand new magnetic stove top and flush, wall mounted steamer worked. We’d never seen anything like it in an upscale home, much less a boat. The ship chartered for about $50k per week and clients included Matthew McConaughey and other notable celebrities. We went to dinner at a haunt Jay used to frequent in his boating days, of which he raved about the food. Afterward it was obvious to us that it had changed management or at least cook staff because the fare paled in comparison to its former glory.

Where had the month gone? New Years was a few days away and we hadn’t even visited the Everglades, Key West and other attractions in the area. It seemed there was always something else to be done and the month flew by. We knew we could not extend our stay at the RV Park, so we had to start scheduling more fun days.

Jane Nelson had highly recommended visiting the gallery of Clyde Butcher, an internationally acclaimed photographer best known for his Ansel Adams-like black and white, large format photos of the Everglades and the Big Cypress National Preserve. His gallery is less than a mile from the Visitor Center of Big Cypress and we stopped on our way there. Chris was amazed to see photographs of him in the field with his cameras, one of which holds a 14” x 20” negative. The gallery’s walls are covered with dozens of framed 24” x 48” black and white prints of stunning images. Surprisingly they are not giclee prints, but created with traditional darkroom techniques by exposing the negative onto photo paper and processing it just like in the old black and white film days. We saw a photograph of Butcher in his lab doing just that. These spectacular images sold for thousands of dollars each and would be too large for the walls in the average home – at least in ours. Smaller prints were available for sale in both giclee and traditional film processing but the difference in quality was vividly apparent in favor of the film technique.

Big Cypress Preserve is essentially a huge cypress swamp and was fairly anti-climactic for us. We arrived about mid-afternoon, toured the miniscule Visitor Center, and listened to a Ranger talk about alligators, given by a young girl originally from Maryland, as we gazed at several of them sunning themselves on the bank of a small canal below the deck on which we stood. Then we hiked the first few hundred yards of a trail before it was covered by water. Unbeknownst to us there are few roads into the swamp, they are heavily pocked and, unless you don’t care about replacing your suspension, the rangers advise avoiding them. We were told the best way to experience it is by boat. Well, maybe next time….

Some of the alligators as seen from the Preserve deck.

A view of the Preserve from the trail. All that you see stands in shallow water.

We visited Big Cypress and the Butcher Gallery on New Year’s Eve and got home in time to attend the scheduled Beach Party celebration at the RV Park, but being the old fogies that we have become, and feeling a little tired from our day trip, we stayed home New Years Eve and enjoyed a movie. Big finish to 2009, huh?

After the New Year we squeezed in a ranger guided canoe trip before leaving for a few days in Key West with Jessica. So, on a sunny, blustery, unusually chilly day (actually this was beginning to be the norm) we headed to the launch site at Nine Mile Pond in the Everglades. An interesting mixture of a family with two teen-age children, middle-aged and older couples, and single men and women occupied the half dozen canoes of our excursion. Not far into the narrow, twisting channels winding through stands of mangrove, we felt blessed that we’d volunteered to bring up the rear and make sure no one got left behind, as the occupants ahead of us mistakenly thought they were paddling bumper cars. It seemed at every bend in the trail, and there were many, several canoes were engaged in a traffic pileup. There was much laughter associated with these gatherings but, we, being the sailors and boat handlers that we are, failed to be quite as amused as they. After a while we did lighten up and laughed at the absurdity of it all and enjoyed the day immensely.

A pileup trying to enter a narrow channel in the mangrove trail.

Mangroves along the canoe trail.

Small cypress trees growing in the grassy wetlands of the Everglades.

Next stop – Key West!!

Christmas in Miami

Jessica had not intended to get a Christmas tree since she lived alone in her condo but after a few days she decided otherwise and we found an adorable little tabletop tree. She dragged out the boxes of Christmas decorations and Jay joined us to spend an evening decorating it and her condo. On the tree we used the hand-made fan coral and seashell ornaments created during our family’s year-long sailing cruise through the Caribbean Islands in the early 90s. Chris, Jessica and Kevin had collected scraps of fan coral and small shells along the beaches they visited. They tore the coral into various shapes, glued tiny shells to them, and then hung them with colorful embroidery floss. It brought back some very fond memories of our wonderful experience on the boat as we decorated the tree.

George Johnson, a former Coast guard buddy of Jay’s, and his wife Caroline, invited us, and Jessica, to their family Christmas dinner. Chris concocted a dish to share and off we went. Caroline had been cooking for a couple of days and we enjoyed a truly a sumptuous feast with all the trimmings, seasonal decorations, candles, fine china, silver and lace tablecloth in, of course, the formal dining room; just like Chris’s Mom used to do. We were right at home and enjoyed seeing them and meeting more of their family and friends.

Fortunately they served the meal in the early afternoon and Jessica could attend before she had to leave for her night shift at Headquarters. She came in civilian attire and brought her uniform expecting to change when she got to work. Caroline would have nothing of it and insisted Jessica change there so that she could see her in uniform. Caroline ooohed and aaaahed and told her how wonderful she looked and how she loved to see a young person in uniform.

The next night we had our own Christmas celebration at Jessica’s condo. We fixed a simple, but tasty dinner, opened gifts and relaxed in front of the TV viewing a cute movie. The night of the 27^th, she insisted that we see the new movie, Avatar. We had no knowledge of its existence but agreed to go and had no regrets despite our late start to catch the 10:45 p.m. movie. The entire 3-D film is chocked full of special effects that are pure eye candy and we really enjoyed it despite its somewhat predictable storyline. We found the theme to be very spiritual in nature which is in line with a lot of the books that Chris has been studying over the last 13 years.

Experiencing Miami

On December 6^th we arrived at the Larry and Penny Thompson RV Park in Miami. It was the nicest RV Park we had found thus far. The County facility had a serpentine road from which eleven cul-de-sac-like pods branched. The RVs were radially arranged around the perimeter of the pods that were separated by large open areas dotted with Live Oaks. The weather was warm and sunny and we were in heaven. Our first order of business was to call Chris’ daughter, Jessica, since that was the reason we were in Miami.

Coordinating with Jessica’s schedule was a bit tricky as she was working 12-hour night shifts at the Coast Guard District 7 Command Headquarters from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. On her days off she liked to conform her awake and sleep times to her work schedule so that her body clock would stay in sync. Fortunately we are relatively late sleepers and arranged to visit her in the afternoons and evenings on her days off and did our shopping, sightseeing and visiting on her work days during our five-week stay in the area.

Chris stayed a couple of days at Jessica’s condo and they spent a day at a monstrous mall doing their Christmas shopping. Chris had been searching online for some tall rubber boots to use when she photographed in marshy areas and had found a pair of red, Wellington, Hunter boots. To her surprise and delight the ladies shoe department at Nordstrom’s carried the boots – but not in red. So, she tried what they had on for size and ordered them in red. The rest of their shopping was fruitful and they got all their Christmas shopping done in time to wrap and mail the gifts.

No visit to Miami is complete without a stroll through South Beach. The broad sidewalks are lined with restaurants of every culinary cuisine. Many display a large, poster-sized copy of their menu and have sample dishes of the meals they offer immaculately arranged on an adjacent table. The hosts/hostesses are like vendors at a carnival, hawking sales pitches to all passing by as to why you need to eat there - they have the best food, food you won’t get anywhere else - you name it they’ve thought of every con possible to lure you into their lairs. The fact is they all seemed pretty much the same.

The infamous South Beach complete with palm trees.

Didn’t spend much time on it but here it is - Miami Beach!

A stroll down a main shopping area in Miami Beach, Lincoln Road, was an interesting experience. A large portion of the road is for pedestrian traffic only and lined with restaurants, art galleries, clothing boutiques, shoe stores, high end candy shops, and just about any other kind of store you can think of. Chris and Jess stopped in dress and shoe shops just to see if they had any affordable, items for Jessica to wear when she went out on the town. Evidently the night scene in Miami is pretty upscale and she wants to at least make an effort to fit in. Mostly she finds name brand dresses online at a fraction of the cost at brick and mortars but it is always fun to look and laugh at the prices. Just an example of what we found in one store was a tiny – imagine postage stamp size- lime green skirt embellished with metallic gold and copper thread embroidery, sequins and beads. The skirt was so short and petite in circumference that a fraction of 1% of women would even be able to wear it. And a fraction of one percent of those women would be able to afford it at the – brace yourself - $1,200 price tag. Cute, but not that cute.

Miami Beach’s main shopping district on Lincoln Road.

Lake Okee-what?

With Jay’s back still tender, Chris did much of the preparations to move the RV to the next destination – Lake Okeechobee. We decided to make it a short stay of just the weekend but it shortened the drive from Melbourne to Miami and kept us off the main interstates.

The lake is the second largest contained entirely within the borders of the United States and is the main source of water to the Everglades. Mona Wood told us that it was completely surrounded by a 30’ high earthen dike, which we found hard to believe at the time. But it is true!!! Chris decided she had to find out what was on the other side of it and went for a hike. The top of the dike has a paved road wide enough for cars to drive upon – one actually passed her during her walk – but she encountered few others on foot. Locks, which allow boats access in and out of the lake via canals, were constructed at intervals around the perimeter and provided ideal locations for dozens of local fishermen.

One of the many locks surrounding the lake. It is peppered with fishermen in the morning and evening.

The paved road atop the dike. That point is mile post # 53 on the east side of the lake.

Although the traffic noise was apparent along the trail, once on the water side of the dike it diminished and the wildlife abounded. Chris turned at the sound of an unfamiliar screech and discovered a bald eagle perched in the branches of a nearby tree. It launched into flight and circled above her before soaring out of sight. Along the lake’s edge, marsh grasses calmed the watery chop to a glassy mirror broken only by the stealthy stalk of the occasional Great Blue Heron and Snowy Egret.

One of the many heron found in the lake perimeter marsh areas.

As the blustery day waned, the heavenly pillows parted contorting into animal shapes washed in shades of peach, purple and rose by the sinking sun. Hundreds of twittering birds took flight over the marshes twisting and cavorting in an evening meal feeding frenzy. The experience was so peaceful, pleasant and entertaining that Chris couldn’t bring herself to leave until the last rays perished.

The turbulent clouds over the lake at sunset.

Monday the 7^th of December, we headed the 130+ miles to Miami and a rendezvous with Jessica.

A Real Blast (off) at Cape Canaveral

After a day’s rest we decided, on Wednesday, December 2nd, that mobility being better for Jay’s back than sitting or lying down, to brave a day at the Kennedy Space Center. We were very impressed with the variety of opportunities offered at the Center and had a wonderful, fun, informative and interesting two-day visit. The admission fee is good for two days as long as you get a stamp on your ticket stub when you exit the first day.

The Center is laid out like a theme park with a “rocket garden” of rockets used in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo manned missions, and unmanned Delta, Juno and Atlas rockets that put into orbit Echo, our first Mylar balloon satellite, and the Pioneer probes which paved our way to the moon.

Some of the rockets in the rocket garden.

We can’t go anywhere that offers movies and get out without seeing them. Therefore, we watched two 3-D IMAX movies, toured an exhibit of Mars exploration rovers, and paid homage to the fallen astronauts at the Space Mirror Memorial. This memorial is unique in that the names of the astronauts are carved completely through the black granite and at night are illuminated from behind by powerful flood lights. It was a sight to behold when we left the park that night.

The Space Mirror Memorial

The astronauts that died in the Apollo I fire on the launch pad.

We toured a Space Shuttle replica and launched into orbit in the Shuttle Launch Simulator. A massive building houses this attraction. After approaching the building entrance via a zig zag ramp, enclosed within a web of steel beams simulating the service arm the astronauts traverse on their way to the shuttle cockpit, we entered a large, high-ceilinged, frigid room with a sweeping wall of video screens the size of the side of a tractor trailer. Blue, white and orange lights flashed on and off casting an otherworldly glow while fog crept around our ankles. On one screen an astronaut described a real-life shuttle launch sequence while others flashed scenes of rocket fireballs and views from every angle of the shuttle during lift off; all in sequence to roaring rumblings from God knows how many speakers scattered throughout the walls. We determined this was to get you stoked for what you would experience in the simulator ride. We exited to a large, slightly warmer hallway where we were guided by parallel lines and recessed lights in the floor positioning us properly for entry through the dozen doors before us to “The Shuttle”. At last we entered the simulator and found that we had only to walk forward down a row of amusement park style seats complete with hard harnesses that clamped over our shoulders like suspenders. Once seated, we discovered our environment was the “bay” of the Shuttle. On the room-sized screen, suspended high before us, astronauts walked us through what we would experience during the launch. The lights were dimmed and the entire bay rocked back to a vertical position. The screen showed us what stage of launch we were in during the entire ride. The rockets fired and the “bay” vibrated, then shook, then shuddered in synchronization to a thunderous crescendo as we incrementally lifted off, and gained speed and altitude. There was the jolt of the boosters falling away, then the silence of slipping through space into orbit. They returned us to an upright position, thanked us for letting them take us on a launch and we departed to the top of a cavernous, round room. We descended 5 stories down a spiral ramp while reading plaques describing all of the manned NASA space missions. Jay wanted to return to space, but the day was waning.

The massive simulator building with the nose of a shuttle replica in the foreground.

The next day we took the bus tour around the grounds. Our coach drove on a road parallel to the gravel path that the crawler uses to transport the Shuttle from the assembly building to the launch pad.

We passed the shuttle assembly building on our tour

The shuttle crawler travels on this gravel road.

Our first stop was a tall observation tower with views of the pad sites. This stop also had a short film and exhibit area containing a large model of the shuttle on the launch pad.

The view of the shuttle launch pad from the observation tower.

A shuttle model in the exhibit area of the observation tower.

Then we were off to the massive building housing the Apollo/Saturn V Center and the highlight of our visit. When visiting a museum we definitely get our money’s worth as we tend to read everything on display. Then we discuss what we’ve read and exchange thoughts and opinions. The bulk of our day was spent in the Apollo/Saturn V Center. The building is immense and the largest section houses an entire Saturn V rocket, its segments lying horizontally on massive stands, while other slightly smaller sections hold a museum of astronaut memorabilia, the Apollo program Mission Control Room and Lunar Landing Show theatre.

The massive Saturn V rocket.

One of 57 cleats, weighing almost 2000 pounds,that make up one of eight belts that pull the crawler transporter.

The Apollo Control Room contains the original consoles used in Houston, TX throughout the Apollo missions. During the rocket launch presentation, the consoles light up and a wall of video screens above them flash views of the rocket launch, and what is happening inside the control room along with recordings of communication between ground crew and astronauts. The museum housed the progression of astronaut space suits, other memorabilia and a capsule from an Apollo mission.

An Apollo capsule in the museum.

One of the highlights of the Center was speaking with an engineer that had worked on the Apollo program. He was a font of knowledge and answered all of our questions; even the one Chris posed “How did they get the lunar rover to the moon?” He told us it was folded up and stored in the base of the lunar module and (some assembly required) took about 30 minutes to set up.

Satisfied we had learned everything we wanted to know about the Apollo program, we continued on our tour to the International Space Station Center where you can walk around and through some of the space station modules. A short trip across a sky walk led to a glass-walled room that overlooked the actual module assembly facility.

A lunar module in the Space Station Center assembly area.

A three-day ticket would have been ideal because we ran out of time before we could tour the Early Space Exploration exhibit much less visit the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame located a few miles away. But it was time to move on and we decided it would be a good place to return to with friends and family.

Chris with a Space Center employee in Astronaut attire.

This granite ball, with a constellation map, rotates by water pressure and is a magnet for kids who want to stop it.

On Friday, December 4th we readied the rig to move to our next destination and stopped by the Wood’s house for a final thank you and goodbyes. As we walked back toward Sonny, Chris noticed something sticking out of the top of the trailer. Upon inspection we discovered it to be a piece of a tree branch, about 2” in diameter and at least 6” long that had pierced the roof and underlying ceiling inside a bedroom closet in the RV. Where we had been in the storage lot for the last week didn’t have a tree within 100 feet of us and we determined it had to have happened at the heavily treed RV Park in Savannah during one of the violent rain storms we encountered. Not having the time or means to repair it we continued on to our next destination at Lake Okeechobee where Jay, being the consummate handyman, effected a temporary repair with the item that, for decades, has held his and millions of other peoples stuff together - duct tape!!